With a victory over Stanford in the books, the Ducks are getting ready to face what may be their toughest opponent of the season in the No. 20 Utah Utes, who are coming off a tough loss to ASU. Caleb Couturie of FishDuck.com was in the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex after practice today to talk to All-American defensive back Ifo Ekpre-Olomu about how the …
After Joe Walker slashed through the line to dump a Stanford Cardinal running back to the turf, the fan behind me leaned over and said, “God, I love that kid.” Yeah, a lot of other Oregon fans agree; this year, Walker has emerged as Oregon’s go-to linebacker when the Ducks face the run. Against rush-happy Stanford, he had nine tackles …
Any sports fan knows that “defense wins championships.” In the case of the College Football Playoff, defense doesn’t just win championships, it gets you a spot to contend for one in the first place. In professional sports, regular season rankings don’t matter, it all comes down to a team’s final win-loss record. The Ducks need to convince the nation they deserve a …
I was at the Oregon Club meeting 20 years ago in 1994 when Nick Aliotti christened the name of the “Gangrene” defense, and I recall the howls at the name. I remember thinking that “Gang-Green” was clever and fits us so well … but alas that was not the right spelling. I have been asked to consider a short (if …
There are some interesting defensive tactics that appeared in the Alamo Bowl win in addition to the continued emergence of DeForest Buckner on the defensive line. His star has been rising and the trendline of his growth manifested itself again in the Oregon Spring Game. Let’s look at what he is doing so well, and how Defensive Coordinator Don Pellum …
Chip Kelly didn’t just bring his offensive scheme with him to the Philadelphia Eagles. For the second time in his coaching career, he changed a 4-3 base defense to his 3-4 scheme. To ease this transition in Year 2, Kelly drafted a player in the fifth round who he relied on during the defensive scheme change at Oregon: defensive lineman …
The safety: the last line of defense, constantly going in and out of attack mode, able to sift through offensive structures and break them down. Arguably the position that gives the quarterback the most trouble, due to the safety’s ability to move undetected. The Oregon Ducks have seen several players come through this position who have had a great impact. Now it’s …
When the Ducks travelled south to play Pac-12 rival Stanford, there were predictions of a Duck victory. De’Anthony Thomas predicted the Oregon offense would put up forty points, and many others had Oregon at least securing the W. Vegas even had the Ducks as a 10+ point favorite. The Duck faithful had high hopes, and with good reason. Leading up …
Everyone knows that linebackers get the bulk of the tackles in a game, thus it was huge surprise to learn that Taylor Hart was Oregon’s leading tackler in the Alamo Bowl, in what was his pinnacle career game with the Ducks. I consulted with one of the members of the Coaching Team at FishDuck.com to learn HOW Taylor pulled off such …
Craig Strobeck Thoughts from Oregon’s game against UCLA last Saturday: Saturday’s Win Was Much Bigger than People Realize The Ducks had 21 points going in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game. Since Oregon beat Cal 15-13 in 2010, the following have been the results of games when the Ducks had 21 points or fewer to start the fourth quarter: L, …
Kevin Cline If you’re a Ducks’ fan or an NFL team in the market for a physical defensive back with great ball skills, then Ifo Ekpre-Olomu is a guy you want to keep your eye on this season. Simply put, he is a ball hawk who has the aggressiveness to legitimately project as a boundary corner in the NFL. Ekpre-Olomu can …
When someone mentions the Oregon Ducks, most people think of a fast-paced explosive offense that leaves defenders in a whirlwind searching for their own jock straps as the band strikes up “Mighty Oregon” and the Duck starts doing pushups. Lost in the offensive storm is a secret scarcely ever uttered east of the Oregon-Idaho state line: Oregon has a nationally prominent defense as well. While there are some …
